While he teased her, she moaned and twisted her hips, desperate for friction where she needed it most. By the time his tongue worked its way across her upper chest, her clit was throbbing in time to her pounding heart. “Nathan, please,” she begged again. “I missed you. Need you so bad. Tease me later, please . . .” She was so wet and nearly incoherent with need.
He slid just a bit down the bed, and she spread her legs, so he could nestle his hips between them. His hardness rubbed against her mound, and she lifted her pelvis to try to increase the pressure. Rubbing against him, she cried out as the head of his cock bumped her clit directly, shooting an arc of pleasure through her.
Nathan kissed his way down her torso, licking, sucking, and tasting as much of her exposed flesh as he could. He tongued her nipple rings, pulling on them gently with his teeth, knowing it drove her crazy, before nuzzling the undersides of her breasts, kissing the soft skin there. She touched him everywhere she could reach, scratching her nails along his shoulders and arching her back to get closer to him.
When he reached her hot-pink lace panties that matched her bra, he knelt by her feet, lowering the material down her legs and off. His gaze roamed her naked body, almost reverently. “God, you’re so damn beautiful, Wannabe. What did I do in my life to deserve you?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer before he dipped his head, parted her folds with his thumbs, and buried his face between her legs, forcing a gasp from her throat. “Damn, you taste amazing.” He groaned against her flesh, alternating between sucking on her clit and licking inside her until she grabbed his hair, pulling him up and off her. His face was glistening, and he grinned before wiping his face on the sheet.
Smiling, she reached between them and palmed the bulge in his boxer briefs, making him groan and shift his hips closer to her touch. “You just had to be you, Nathan . . . nothing more, nothing less.” She paused for a moment before meeting his blue eyes, blazing with desire, and letting the words she’d been holding back spill from her lips. “I love you.” Her voice was soft and hesitant, as her heart hammered against her ribs with both desire and fear.
His eyes widened, then he leaned forward, pressing his chest to hers and propping his hands on either side of her head. He lowered his mouth to hers, giving her the sweetest, most heart-felt kiss she’d ever experienced. “I love you too, Wannabe. I think I fell in love with you the moment I read your first letter.” He whispered the words against her lips, his breath puffing against her mouth. “And I’ll love you to my dying day.”
Before she could respond, his lips were on hers again, taking possession of her mouth. In that moment, she knew . . . he owned her. For the rest of her life, her heart would belong to him and no one else.
He quickly removed his underwear and ran two fingers across her pussy lips, dipping them inside her, making sure she was ready for him. She could’ve told him he didn’t have to bother though—she was soaked. When he lined his cock up and entered her, her body yielded and stretched to accommodate him as if the final piece of its complex puzzle was sliding into place. With a few short strokes, he was soon buried to the hilt. This wasn’t sex between them . . . not anymore. It was the melding of two hearts and two souls.
As they climbed a precipice of pure pleasure, Willow’s senses were aware of nothing but Nathan. The way he touched her and murmured endearments and promises into her ear. The way his scent surrounded her, and how his skin tasted on her tongue. The way he moved within her with deep and sure strokes, touching every part of her heart and body. All of that didn’t send her over the edge though, until he lifted his head just enough that she could see the love burning in his eyes. When he said, “Come for me, baby,” she shattered and screamed his name as her orgasm crashed over her, sending her tumbling into a sea of bliss.
When Nathan followed her, Willow felt his heated release bathe her insides. It made her feel so close to him, without the barrier of latex in the way. She never wanted anything to keep them apart, not even something as simple as a condom. The possibility of children was a concern, but not a big one. A little girl or boy, with Nathan’s dark hair and her eyes? Maybe one day.
Lying sated, with her head on his chest and Nathan’s fingers in her hair, she now understood the impassioned love her father had felt for her mother. She also understood how Jason’s heart had shattered at the loss of the woman who’d been his soul mate.
Willow caressed Nathan’s taut abdomen, her fingers playing with the dark hair there. She could almost feel her father channeling the courage he hadn’t been able to find until it was too late into her mind as she lifted her gaze to Nathan’s. She refused to repeat Jason’s mistakes and let fear and regret prevent her from seizing her happiness. “When your discharge is final, move in with me?”
His eyes filled with hope. “You mean it? This isn’t just my superior love making skills messing with your head, right? You really want me here?”
Laughing, she shoved him. “Jerk,” she teased, kissing his chest before nipping at his nipple. “I’ve thought about it almost constantly since you left. I love you. I love beingwithyou. If it’s not something you’re ready for, I understand, but I really hope it is.”
He continued to run his fingers through her hair, letting the strands fall against his bare arm. “Yes, Wannabe, I’d love to live here with you. And no, I don’t need time. If you hadn’t asked, I’d planned to just keep showing up and slowly bring more of my stuff with me each time.”
“What?” Giggling, she moved to straddle him, folding her arms on his chest and resting her chin on her hands. “You didn’t think I’d notice?”
“Oh, I know you would, but I thought you’d be so taken with me you wouldn’t mind too much. And if you said anything about it, my plan was to distract you with sex.”
She wiggled her hips, bringing his cock twitching back to attention. “There are definitely some perks of you living here, solider-boy. Someone to do heavy lifting, your omelet skills, hmm . . . what else? Bed warmer?”
“Boy!? Woman, I’m your soldier-man, dammit. How many times do I have to tell you that? Do you need another demonstration to remind you of the difference?”
“Hell yes, willalwaysbe the answer to that question.”
Laughing with delight, Nathan rolled them over, drew back, and flipped her onto her stomach. Hauling her up onto her knees, he drove inside her with one hard thrust. “Oh, hellll yessss.”
* * *
Four hoursafter she’d picked him up at the airport, Nathan sat next to Willow at the kitchen island. He couldn’t stop staring at her. From the moment he’d met her, maybe even before then, she’d taken his breath away, and now, she’d asked him to move in with her when he was discharged! She’d told him she loved him! There wasn’t a bastard on this planet luckier than him.
He hadn’t hesitated with his reply—he wanted to be wherever she was. He loved her, more than he could express with words, although he’d done his best to tell and show her that in bed a little while ago. He’d meant what he said—if she hadn’t asked, he’d planned to slowly creep into every facet of her life, until one day, she turned around and realized he was living there.
They were seated side-by-side, eating sandwiches and recovering from their bout of mind-blowing love making. Reaching across to her plate, he snagged one of her Doritos, popping it into his mouth and crunching down.
“Hey! That’s mine. You have your own!” Willow stole some of his chips in retaliation, but he just grinned.
“What’s yours is mine, right, since I’m going to be living here soon?” After leaning over and pecking a quick kiss on her lips, he finished the last of his food and gathered their empty plates, setting them in the sink to be washed later. He had other things he wanted to do right now. Namely being his woman. To be near her was to want her.
He poured a glass of water, downing it in a few gulps. He’d need to keep hydrated.
“No, what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is also mine. Duh.”
Leaving the glass beside the sink, he looked over at her and grinned. “Cheeky wench.” Swiftly rounding the island and grabbing her off the stool, he bent down and slung her up and over his shoulder. She squealed and slapped at his ass and thighs. Shifting her weight more evenly onto his shoulder, he made his way to the hallway that led to her,theirbedroom.